Chuck Hagel may regret not having made more Senate pals

Chuck Hagel probably never thought he’d have to win a popularity contest in the Senate.

Maybe that’s why he wasn’t terribly careful about whom he confronted or whom he offended. He popped off on the “Jewish lobby” and a gay Clinton nominee. His fellow Republicans will never forget the relish with which he lectured them on the flaws of the Iraq War — after he voted to authorize it.

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TOP 5 controversial Chuck Hagel positions

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Policy aside, Hagel’s bedeviled by his own abrasive personality. In a chamber known for back-patting and elbow-rubbing, the former Nebraska senator mostly rubbed people the wrong way. Now, on his path to the Pentagon, he has to hope that irritation doesn’t come back to bite him.

“He was respected as a colleague in the normal Senate tradition but was somewhat of a lone wolf and did not forge the deep personal relationships with his fellow Republicans that would translate into a ready reservoir of support for his nomination,” said John Ullyot, a former Marine intelligence officer who was the spokesman for the Senate Armed Services Committee under Chairman John Warner from 2003 to 2007. “On top of that, his outspokenness and blunt criticism of several Republican priorities at a critical time, including Iraq and Iran, while sincere and heartfelt, have left him without a natural platform of enthusiasm for his confirmation.”

Those hurdles “are not insurmountable,” Ullyot added. “But he starts the process with a long and uncharted road ahead.”

In the past, a former senator could count on getting a gentleman’s confirmation vote from his old club. But Hagel can’t even count on a fellow Republican Cornhusker to give him a hand.

One vote that will be tough for Hagel to win: that of fellow Nebraska Republican Deb Fischer. Hagel crossed party lines to back Fischer’s Democratic opponent, former Sen. Bob Kerrey, in 2012. Now, Fischer sits in judgment of Hagel as a freshman member of the Armed Services Committee, the panel that will handle his confirmation hearing.

In a statement released Monday, Fischer hinted at what could be the ultimate spectacle of a Hagel confirmation hearing: her chance to question him directly from behind the dais.

“I plan to closely review Senator Hagel’s record and look forward to meeting with him to discuss his views on America’s role in an increasingly dangerous world. As a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, I will also have the opportunity to publicly question Senator Hagel during his confirmation hearing in the coming weeks,” she said. “This process will be thorough and fair, and I look forward to participating in it.”

President Barack Obama acknowledged Hagel’s rougher edges in praising his independence during a White House ceremony on Monday afternoon.

“In the Senate, I came to admire his courage and his judgment, his willingness to speak his mind, even if it wasn’t popular, even if it defied the conventional wisdom, and that’s exactly the spirit I want on my national security team — a recognition that when it comes to the defense of our country, we are not Democrats or Republicans, we are Americans,” Obama said.

Paul Findley, a member of Congress for 22 years, wrote in his book They Dare to Speak Out that "Capitol Hill is truly Israeli-occupied territory." No wonder approval of Congress is lower than approval of cockroaches and root canals. Senator Hagel has said he is a US senator not an Israeli senator. Authors of this article say Hagel differs from the others in the Senate in their way of "doing business." That's for the good. The others sell our country down the drain as they sell their souls to AIPAC and send our blood and treasure to fight unnecessary wars for Israeli expansionism. Hagel saw the light and said so. The Israel Lobby neocons and other AIPAC whores hate the true statesmen who put America first for a change.

'Popped off on the Jewish Lobby"? Hagel said quite bluntly the he is the Senator from Nebraska not the Senator from Isreal which irritated the Jewish Lobby and Democratic Jewish Senators who have signed the AIPAC Grover Norquist-like pledge for unwavering support for Isreal. As soon as anyone even whispers about the Jewish Lobby they are immediately assaulted by pro-Isreal groups as being anti-semitic. The neocon Jewish lobby that led to the invasion of Iraq include the following Jewish neocons. Ari Fleischer, Charles Krauthammer, Dan Senor, and William Kristoll, The Jewish Lobby in the Senate include Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI), Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD), Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Sen Joe Libermann (I-CT).

It is perfectly reasonable and not anti-semitic to ask if the Jewish Lobby is more loyal to the interests of Isreal or to the interests of the US..

Too bad the qualifications for the position have to include the "buddies" in the Senate or anywhere in Congress. Don't they have the worst ratings since rating have ben taken? Maybe it's best if those with a 9% approval rating don't cheer.

Integrity, commitment to this country, military experience, knowledge of the legislative process, a good American frankness so very much missing in today's politics, all seem to be less important than who you cozied up with in prior years. The politics of big money, lobbyists and political correctness all seem to weigh more than ethics and a true commitment to the Defense of this nation....

If GW Bush had nominated him, the GOPers in Congress would have supported him with no regrets. Partisan politics in this nation truly have discouraged good people from stepping forward to serve. Shame on all you who jump and pre-judge before his confirmation hearings....This is not a political job - it is a cabinet post that requires a person with sound judgement who is not afraid to do what is needed to protect this nation.

What the far left and far right hate is that Hagel is not a man they can influence...... the inmates want to run the asylum. Generals, admirals and leading miltary figures respect Hagel. Maybe the politicians should tone it down.

Unlike many US politicians, Hagel does not think that it is his duty to obey Israel and the Jewish lobby. Hagel wants to protect the interests of the USA without asking Netanyau for permission first, which makes him a great choice for defense secretary.

i guess that's the difference between someone like mccain being a "maverick" breaking with his party and chuck hagel breaking with the party. everyone knows when mccain does it it's just for show and he's just looking for more camera time... when chuck hagel does it it is because he means it and it is done in sincerity.

Article (emphasis added): He popped off on the “Jewish lobby” and a gay Clinton nominee. His fellow Republicans will never forget the relish with which he lectured them on the flaws of the Iraq War — after he voted to authorize it.

It's not just that he's an anti-Semitic bigot and a gay basher, Chuckie's also got a TERRIBLE case of hypocrisy and bad judgement to boot. He railed against the troop surge too, and that was a spectacular success. He wasn't man enough to admit that he was wrong there either.

I guess it's easy to understand why Obama likes the guy?

If you're anti-war, state your piece, and then let your vote reflect your values. Chucky (like MANY of his leftist Democrat buddies) didn't do that! They voted to go to war! That was "before they were against it."

Jingoist, Iraq is a mess and you know it. At the time of the surge, Sunnis were temporarily bought off but they're not any more. We can't permanently occupy all of Israel's enemies with more and more boots on the ground and more and more money to pay people off as the Israel Lobby neocons want us to do in order to protect Israeli expansionism.

LOL! He opposed it, then VOTED to go to war. It would be an act of incredible charity to call you "vapid."

wrong again... he voted for the war and then like many others who did- he opposed the senseless continued occupation that led to needless deaths of our troops and iraqi citizens. to say nothing of the "burn rate" that got as high as $12 billion per/mo.

Jingoist, many were taken in by the falsified intelligence which lied us into this national disaster. Israel Lobby neocons generated that pro-war propaganda. The Pentagon's Doug Feith, whom Colin Powell called a "card-carrying member of the Likud Party", sent false information, at variance with that of the intelligence community, directly to the White House. Feith had for years advocated war with Iraq to benefit Israel. Now the Isreal-firster neocons are deathly afraid it might be harder to get a bankrupted nation to go to war with Iran. Hagel looms as an obstacle to their plan of endless unnecessary wars.

Politico makes it sound as though the Senate's "advice and consent" is at bottom little more than a personal popularity contest based on petty past schmoozing or grievances. Let's hope it is something more than that, something different from that.

I think in the end even old John McCain will support Chuck Hagel. The realist views Hagel will propound and defend will sound reasonable and attractive to most Americans. The senators arguing the neocon "preemptive strike" crap and arguing to keep our unaffordable military budget bloated in a time we're looking for fiscally responsible senators will not sway most American voters. I think the Republicans will back off when it comes to the actual hearings and that Hagel will win confirmation more easily than expected or portrayed in the media. The hearings will split Republicans three ways: one, the libertarian Republicans like Paul who want to see our overseas bases shut down, fewer American wars and our defense budget reined in; two, the foreign policy realists who agree with our president and Chuck Hagel on military matters; and three, the neocon Republicans who advance Rumsfeld's unpersuasive and unpopular ideas. Those senators that argue the neocon line will likely pay a price at the ballot boxes on Election Day.

why is it knuckle draggers have a problem that in a "free society" one can vote for, support a war effort and then change their minds and protest against that same war when they see it a total waste of lives & resources; when there is no longer a clear objective or that the reasons for having gone to war have been satisfied? the very same knuckle draggers who love preaching about freedom & liberty...